Apparatus and method for on-demand multi-device social network experience sharing

ABSTRACT

Methods, computer-readable media and apparatuses for sharing an experience via a social network on demand are disclosed. A processor establishes a first video session with a mobile endpoint device of a user, the first video session is established after the mobile endpoint device is authenticated as being allowed to capture a video of a live event at a commercial venue, the first video session containing the video of the live event at the commercial venue that the user is attending, receives at least one social media connection of the user for receiving the video, sends a notification to each social media connection of the at least one social media connection that the video is available, receives a request from the at least one social media connection to access the video, and establishes a second video session with an endpoint device of the at least social media connection.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/740,047, filed Jun. 15, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,116,714, which isherein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The present disclosure relates generally to social networking and, moreparticularly, to an apparatus, method and a computer-readable medium forsharing an experience via a social network on demand.

BACKGROUND

Today, professional sports and entertainment events are selling physicaltickets. As a result, individuals are required to purchase a physicalticket to attend a live event. However, the physical tickets can be veryexpensive and a group of friends may not be able to attend the eventtogether because not everyone can afford to pay for the physicaltickets. As a result, some individuals may not be able to attend theevent and share the experience with their friends.

SUMMARY

In one example, the present disclosure discloses a method,computer-readable medium, and apparatus for sharing an experience via asocial network on demand. For example, the method may include aprocessor of a service provider of a communication network that providesa communication service, where the processor establishes a first videosession with a mobile endpoint device of a user, wherein the first videosession is established after the mobile endpoint device is authenticatedas being allowed to capture a video of a live event at a commercialvenue, the first video session containing the video of the live event atthe commercial venue that the user is attending, receives at least onesocial media connection of the user for receiving the video, sends anotification to each social media connection of the at least one socialmedia connection that the video is available, receives a request fromthe at least one social media connection to access the video, andestablishes a second video session with an endpoint device of the atleast social media connection to provide the video.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teaching of the present disclosure can be readily understood byconsidering the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network related to the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example block diagram of sharing an experience viaa social network on demand between two endpoints;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for sharing anexperience via a social network on demand; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a high-level block diagram of a computer suitable foruse in performing the functions described herein.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure broadly discloses methods, computer-readablemedia and devices for sharing an experience via a social network ondemand. As discussed above, professional sports and entertainment eventsare selling physical tickets. As a result, individuals are required topurchase a physical ticket to attend a live event. However, the physicaltickets can be very expensive and a group of friends may not be able toattend the event together because not everyone can afford to pay for thephysical tickets or possibly there are not enough physical ticketsavailable for the live event. As a result, some individuals may not beable to attend the event and share the experience with their friends.

One embodiment of the present disclosure allows users to share anexperience via a social network on demand. As a result, friends of auser who could not afford to purchase a ticket to a live event, or wereunable to purchase a ticket due to limited supply, may still be able toshare the experience with the user.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure may be used to allow an eventpromoter, or a service provider to sell virtual tickets for a live eventto be held at a “commercial” venue. A commercial venue (e.g., a theater,a concert hall, an arena or a stadium) is intended to cover a physicalvenue that a user travels to in order to observe a live event. Thus, acommercial venue does not cover a user's own home or any other venuesthat the user does not need a ticket for entry to observe the liveevent. As a result, additional revenue may be generated by selling anunlimited number of “virtual” tickets to a live event that is typicallylimited by the physical size and space constraints (e.g., limited numberof seats in a theater, a concert hall, an arena or stadium). Inaddition, the users at the live event may provide a number of differentunique views, or a personal perspective, of the live event.

To aid in understanding the present disclosure, FIG. 1 illustrates acommunication network 100. In one embodiment, the communication network100 may include an Internet Protocol (IP) network 102. In oneembodiment, the IP network 102 may be a managed network (e.g., amulti-protocol label switching (MPLS) core network). The IP network 102may include an application server (AS) 104 and a database (DB) 106.Although only a single AS 104 and a single DB 106 is illustrated in FIG.1, it should be noted that any number of application servers anddatabases may be deployed.

In one embodiment, the AS 104 may be deployed as a computer having aprocessor and a memory as illustrated in FIG. 4 and discussed below. Inone embodiment, the AS 104 may be configured (e.g., loaded with computerreadable instructions or software applications) to perform the functionsdescribed herein. In one embodiment, the AS 104 may be located at thelive event 108 or the IP network 102, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

In one embodiment, the DB 106 may store multi-media or video data fromone or more mobile endpoints 110, 112 and 114. The DB 106 may also storesubscription data related to which users are subscribed to the on-demandsocial media experience sharing service. In other words, the one or moreendpoint devices 110, 112 and 114 are subscribed devices of the serviceprovider of the communication network 102, e.g., an IP communicationnetwork. In one embodiment, the DB 106 may store a list of social mediaconnections of each user associated with the one or more mobileendpoints 110, 112 and 114. In one embodiment, the service provider isan operator of a communication network that provides variouscommunication services in addition to the on-demand social mediaexperience sharing service as discussed below. In other words, theservice provider may operate one or more communication networks (e.g.,access networks and/or core networks) that may provide one or more ofthe following example communication services: cellular services, dataservices, messaging services such as text messaging services, localand/or long distance telephone services, Internet access services, homesecurity monitoring services, media content delivery services (e.g.,delivery of television programming, movies and the like), and so on.

In one embodiment, the DB 106 may also store contractual or licensingagreements between a venue of a live event 108 and the service providerof the IP network 102. For example, the service provider may agree toprovide a share of revenue to the venue of the live event 108 inexchange for allowing video to be captured and shared by users at thelive event 108.

It should be noted that the IP network 102 has been simplified for easeof explanation. The IP network 102 may include additional networkelements that are not shown, such as for example, a gateway (e.g., aserving gateway, a packet data network gateway, and the like), afirewall, a call control element, one or more access networks, anauthentication, authorization and accounting server, a home subscriberserver, a mobility management entity, and the like. In one embodiment,the IP network 102 may be a cellular communication network (e.g., a 3G,4G, LTE, and the like).

In one embodiment, the one or more mobile endpoint devices 110, 112 and114 may be any type of mobile endpoint device capable of capturingmultimedia or video of the live event 108. For example, the mobileendpoint devices 110, 112 and 114 may be a smart phone with videorecording capability, a tablet computer with video recording capability,a laptop computer with video recording capability, a video recorder withwireless communication capability, and the like.

In one embodiment, a different user may be associated with each one ofthe one or more endpoint devices 110, 112 and 114 and who may beattending the live event 108. In one embodiment, the live event 108 maybe a sporting event, a musical concert, a play, a theatricalperformance, a recital and the like. In other words, the live event 108may be any live event where a physical ticket is typically required toenter the venue and watch the live event. However, as discussed above,the tickets for live events are usually very expensive and limited insupply due to the physical size and space constraints.

The different user associated with each one of the one or more endpointdevices 110, 112 and 114 may be located in a different section or seatof the live event. As a result, the different users will be able tocapture on video a different view or perspective of the same live event.In addition, the different users may be around different people and havea different experience that they can share. For example, the ambientnoise captured by one endpoint device, e.g., the surrounding crowd noisearound one user, will be completely different from the ambient noisearound a different user. In yet another example, the ambient noise maycapture the voice of the user or conversations conducted by the user ofthe device with other surrounding attendees as the user is watching thelive event at the commercial venue. Thus, the captured video provides avery realistic representation of the localized user experiencecorresponding to a particular seat at the commercial venue.

In another example, the user associated with the endpoint device 110 maybe a celebrity with courtside tickets to a basketball game that issurrounded by other celebrities. As a result, the video captured by theuser associated with the endpoint device 110 may include conversationsof celebrities attending the live event and close images of thesecelebrities near the user associated with endpoint device 110. The userassociated with the endpoint device 112 may have a seat near the basketand have a good view of slam dunks or other action around the rim of abasketball event. The user associated with the endpoint device 114 mayhave a seat in the upper deck and have an ordinary view of the liveevent 108.

In one embodiment, the different users may each have a different list ofsocial media connections stored in the DB 106 with the service providerof the IP network 102. In one embodiment, the social media connectionsmay include friends, family members, acquaintances, co-workers, and thelike. Each different user may add or remove social media connections asdesired and set security parameters for each social media connection onhis or her respective list. For example, friends and family members maybe able to access video sent by the user from the live event withoutrestrictions. On the other hand, acquaintances may not have access tothe videos, or require a password distributed by the user, and the like.The security parameters may be used by the service provider to determinewhich social media connections on a user's list may be notified when avideo is available, as discussed in further detail below.

In one embodiment, a user associated with the mobile endpoint device 110may begin capturing video that is sent to the AS 104. The user mayindicate that he or she would like to share the live event experience(e.g., the video that is being captured) with her friends in her list ofsocial media connections that is stored in the DB 106. In other words,the live event experience can be shared “on-demand” because the serviceprovider may notify the user's social media connections immediatelyafter the captured video and request to share are sent to the AS 104.

In addition, sharing is “on-demand” because the user's social mediaconnections do not need to wait until they check a status page torealize the video is available. Rather, the service provider may send anotification to the social media connections immediately.

In response, the AS 104 may notify endpoint devices 116, 118 and 120associated with each one of the user's friends. In one embodiment, eachfriend may receive the notification and use his or her respectiveendpoint device 116, 118 or 120 to access the video sent by the mobileendpoint device 110 of the user. In one embodiment, the notification maybe sent via a pop-up message, a text message, a voice call, a videocall, an email, and the like.

In one embodiment, the endpoint devices 116, 118 and 120 may be any typeof endpoint device. For example, the endpoint devices 116, 118 and 120may be a desktop computer, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a tabletcomputing device, a smart television, a wearable device with voice andvideo capability, and the like. In one embodiment, the one or moreendpoint devices 116, 118 and 120 are subscribed devices of the serviceprovider of the IP network 102. In other words, the one or more endpointdevices 110, 112, 114, 116, 118 and 120 are subscribed devices of theservice provider of the IP network 102, e.g., identified via informationassociated with International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) numberand the like.

In one embodiment, the captured video may be accessed by establishing asecond separate connection to the AS 104 via the endpoint device 116,118 or 120. In other words, the live event experience is shared via twoseparate connections to the AS 104 and not a point-to-point connectionbetween the mobile endpoint device 110 and the endpoint devices 116, 118and 120.

When the endpoint devices 116, 118 and 120 access the captured videofrom the live event, the friends may share the experience that the userat the live event is experiencing via the video captured by the user'smobile endpoint device 110. In other words, the friends may see and heareverything that the user is seeing and hearing at the live event 108from the user's perspective.

In one embodiment, the service provider may establish a license or acontract with the league, venue, performers, event promoter and thelike, to allow the video that is captured at the live event 108 to beshared with other users that are not attending the live event 108. Forexample, the service provider may charge a user and/or each friend ofthe user a subscription fee to provide video to share with the user'ssocial media connections and to allow the social media connections toaccess the video. For example, the videos provided to the AS 104 may beconsidered as unique live content that can be watched on a subscriptionbasis with the consent of the live event promoter.

In one embodiment, the videos submitted by all of the mobile endpointdevices 110, 112 and 114 may be provided to users associated with theendpoint devices 116, 118 and 120. For example, the users of theendpoint devices 116, 118 and 120 may browse which videos are availableand see information associated with who is submitting the video or whatseat the video is being captured from. In one embodiment, a user of theendpoint device 116 may request to be added as a social media connectionof the user associated with the mobile endpoint device 112 if the userof the endpoint device 116 is interested in watching the video submittedby the user associated with the mobile endpoint device 112. For example,the user associated with the mobile endpoint device 112 may be sittingat the 50 yard line, or at one of the end zones of a football game, andso on.

In one embodiment, the AS 104 may have information regarding what typeof endpoint devices 116, 118 and 120 are subscribed to the sharing anexperience via a social network on-demand service. As a result, the AS104 may automatically encode the video for compatibility with each ofthe endpoint devices 116, 118 and 120 to maximize the viewingexperience. For example, the endpoint device 116 may require MPEG4encoding, the endpoint device 118 may require H.264 encoding and theendpoint device 120 may require H.265 encoding. Thus, the AS 104 mayprovide differently coded video to each one of the different type ofendpoint devices 116, 118 and 120 simultaneously when the endpointdevices 116, 118 and 120 attempt to access the video at the same time.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example block diagram of sharing a live eventexperience via a social network on-demand between two endpoints. Forexample, as noted above, the experience may be shared via twoindependent connections to the AS 104. For example, a first connection202 may be between the mobile endpoint device 110 and the AS 104 and asecond connection 204 may be between the AS 104 and the endpoint device116. As a result, the endpoint device 116 may see the same view capturedby the user via his or her mobile endpoint device 110 at the live event108.

In one embodiment, a second point-to-point connection 206 may beestablished between the mobile endpoint device 110 and the endpointdevice 116 for full duplex communications. For example, the user of themobile endpoint device 110 and the social media connection or friend ofthe endpoint device 116 may communicate with one another as they aresharing the experience. In one embodiment, the full duplex communicationmay be a messaging session as illustrated in the endpoint device 116. Inanother embodiment, the full duplex communication may be a voice call ora video call. For example, the mobile endpoint device 110 and theendpoint device 116 may have a picture-in-picture window for the videocall while the two endpoints are sharing the experience of the liveevent 108.

In one embodiment, the service provider may provide a softwareapplication that is executed on the mobile endpoint device 110 and theendpoint device 116. The application may provide a menu of options tocapture video of the live event 108 and automatically send the video tothe AS 104 along with a notification to the list of social mediaconnections of the user. The software application may allow the user toreceive requests to add another user as a social media connection,remove social media connections, create sub-groups of social mediaconnections for sharing live event experiences on-demand, and the like.In addition, the software application may provide the endpoint device116 a listing of users who are currently sharing an experience at a liveevent that the user can send a request to be added as a social mediaconnection. For example, the software application may provide a “channellisting” of live event experiences (broadly a plurality of capturedvideos being captured at a live event) that are available to the user ofthe endpoint device 116 who may be looking to access live event videosfor viewing.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 300 sharing anexperience via a social network on demand in accordance with the presentdisclosure. In one embodiment, steps, functions, and/or operations ofthe method 300 may be performed by an AS 104. In one embodiment, thesteps, functions, or operations of method 300 may be performed by acomputing device or system 400, and/or processor 402 as described inconnection with FIG. 4 below. For illustrative purpose, the examplemethod 300 is described in greater detail below in connection with anembodiment performed by a processor, such as processor 402.

The method 300 begins in step 302. At step 304, a processor establishesa first video session with a mobile endpoint device of a user from alive event. For example, the user may be at a commercial venue for alive sporting event or a musical concert and want to share his or herexperience with one or more of his or her social media connections. Inone embodiment, a software application (app) may be downloaded on themobile endpoint device of the user to allow the user to capture thevideo and establish the first video session with a server operated bythe service provider of the on-demand social media experience sharingservice (broadly a subscribed service).

In one embodiment, the processor may establish a plurality of differentvideo sessions from a plurality of different users. For example, thelive event may have many users in different seats who are subscribers tothe on-demand social media experience sharing service and are capturingvideos with their respective mobile endpoint devices. As a result, theservice provider may have video sessions from a variety of differentperspectives and views within the same venue of the live event. Thedifferent views may be presented to other subscribers or the socialmedia connections of the user of the first video session to allow theother subscribers to possibly select a different view by connecting as asocial media connection with the plurality of different users.

In one embodiment, prior to the establishment of the first videosession, an authentication of the user is performed, i.e., theestablishment of the first video session is only performed after themobile endpoint device is authenticated as being allowed to capture thevideo of the live event at the commercial venue. The authentication ofthe user can be performed in a number of different approaches. Forexample, a user may only be allowed to capture video at the live eventafter providing an access code back to the service provider before thefirst video session is established. For example, the access code can beprovided based on certain level or type of tickets, e.g., premiumtickets with video capturing rights. The access code can be obtained(e.g., electronically) when the user registers his or her mobileendpoint device at the commercial venue, e.g., via a kiosk located atthe stadium. In one embodiment, the ability to capture video of the liveevent at the commercial venue may require the payment of an additionalcharge by the user.

Alternatively, in another embodiment, the authentication can be based ongeo-fencing. Broadly, geo-fencing is a feature that uses physicallocation information, e.g., as provided by a global positioning system(GPS) or radio frequency identification (RFID), to define geographicalboundaries. For example, the venue owner may want to limit video captureby the attendees who are located at certain physical locations of thecommercial venue. For example, the venue owner may disallow attendees atcourt side of a basketball game to capture such “near” or “close” videosof the live event since such captured videos may compete with livebroadcasts of the live event by the venue owner. However, the venueowner may allow video captures by the attendees who are located at theupper decks of a large stadium. Given the greater distance to the liveevent, such “far” or “remote” videos of the live event may not be deemedto be competitive with live broadcasts of the live event by the venueowner. Thus, the authentication is premised on whether the mobileendpoint device of the user is within a permissible physical area, e.g.,a geo-fence defined area, that allows the capture of video of the liveevent at the commercial venue. If the user's mobile endpoint device isproperly authenticated, then the method 300 will establish the firstvideo session.

At step 306, the processor receives a list of social media connectionsof the user that the user wants to share the first video session with(broadly at least one social media connection for receiving the capturedlive event video received via the first video session). For example,user may use the app on his or her mobile endpoint device to manage hisor her social media connections. The user may then select which socialmedia connections he or she would like to share the live eventexperience with. The selections may then be forwarded to the serviceprovider of the on-demand social media experience sharing service.

At step 308, the processor sends a notification. For example, thenotification may be sent to each social media connection from the listof social media connections of the user that the first video session isavailable. In one example, the notification may be sent as a messagenotification from the app that the social media connections have alsodownloaded on their respective endpoint device. In another example, thenotification may be sent via a text message, a telephone call, an email,and the like.

At step 310, the processor receives a request from one or more socialmedia connections to access the first video session. For example, afterthe social media connections receive the notification, one or more ofthe social media connections from the user's list of social mediaconnections may decide to share the live event experience with the userand view the live event video received in the first video session. As aresult, one or more of the social media connections may send separaterequests to the server to request access to the first video session.

At step 312, the processor establishes a second video session with anendpoint device of the one or more social media connections. In oneembodiment, the access may be provided via a second video session thatis independent from and different than the first video session. In otherwords, the present disclosure does not provide a point to point videosession (e.g., a video conference, a Skype® call, a Facetime® call, andthe like). Rather, the present disclosure establishes two separate videosessions to provide access to the captured video received (and stored)from the user via the first video session to one or more of the socialmedia connections of the user.

Using two separate video sessions may allow the service provider tobetter regulate, disseminate, meter and/or secure the user capturedvideo, e.g., ensuring that the recipient of the video is an authorizedsubscriber, ensuring proper accounting of the number of viewersaccessing the captured videos to ensure that the event promoters will beaccurately compensated for allowing such shared viewings, ensuring thatthere is sufficient bandwidth in the network to handle the number ofrequests for receiving the captured video, ensuring that the video isencoded with the necessary safeguards (e.g., use of public and privatekeys for encoding) and so on. These are only examples of additionalprocessing that can be performed by the service provider.

In addition, using separate video sessions may allow the serviceprovider to address compatibility issues, e.g., encoding the videoproperly for the endpoint device of each one of the social mediaconnections who requests to access the video of the first video session.For example, since the social media connections are also subscribers tothe service, the service provider may know what types of endpoints areassociated with each social media connection of the user. Thus, theservice provider may encode the video using a first video encodingcompatible with the endpoint device of a first social media connectionand encode the same video using a second different video encoding thatis compatible with the endpoint device of a second social mediaconnection. As a result, the experience sharing may be maximized foreach social media connection for the respective endpoint device beingused to view the video captured by the user at the live event.

In one embodiment, the user and the social media connections who haveestablished the second video session may also establish a full duplexcommunication via the service provider. For example, the user and asocial media connection may communicate with one another as they aresharing the experience. In one embodiment, the full duplex communication(e.g., broadly shown as communication 208 of FIG. 2) may be a messagingsession (e.g., text messaging), a voice call, a video call, and thelike.

In one embodiment, the full duplex media connection may be apoint-to-point connection that is independent from, or a differentsession from, the two video sessions established with the server of theservice provider. In other words, even if the video session areterminated the full duplex media connection may continue. For example,the user may end the first video session such that the social mediaconnection no longer receives video over the second video session, butthe user and the social media connection may still communicate with oneanother (e.g., the user may tell the social media connection “bye” orthat the user is leaving the live event, etc.).

At step 314, the processor determines whether the first or second videosession is terminated. For example, the user may leave the live event orstop capturing video of the live event with his or her mobile endpointdevice. Alternatively, the one or more social media connections maydecide to stop viewing the video of the live event and end the secondvideo session. If the first or second video session is not terminated,the method 300 may return to step 312 and the first and second videosession remains established.

However, if the first or second video session is terminated, the method300 may proceed to optional step 316. At optional step 316, theprocessor may receive a request to become a social media connection of adifferent user providing a different video. For example, while viewingthe video from the first video session, the social media connection maybe provided a listing of other video sessions from different users indifferent seats at the live event.

For example, some video sessions may be provided by celebrities who havefront row seats to the live event. The social media connection of theuser may not be a social media connection of the different usersproviding the other video sessions. To view another video session, thesocial media connection of the user may send a request to one or more ofthe different users to become a social media connection of the one ormore of the different users. It should be noted that step 316 can betriggered or entered without the need that the first or second videosession be ended first. In other words, in one embodiment, a socialmedia connection may opt to select a different captured live event videoif such different captured live event video is made available forselection.

At optional step 318, the processor determines whether the request wasaccepted. If the request was accepted, the method 300 may return to step312 to establish another or a different second video session with theendpoint device of the one or more social media connections. Forexample, in this instance, the second video session would include adifferent video from a different user that the social media connectionof the user had requested to become a social media connection with.

However, at optional step 318 if the request is denied, then the method300 may proceed to step 320. At step 320, the method 300 ends.

It should be noted that although not specifically specified, one or moresteps, functions or operations of the method 300 may include a storing,displaying and/or outputting step as required for a particularapplication. In other words, any data, records, fields, and/orintermediate results discussed in the respective methods can be stored,displayed and/or outputted to another device as required for aparticular application. Furthermore, steps, blocks or operations in FIG.3 that recite a determining operation or involve a decision do notnecessarily require that both branches of the determining operation bepracticed. In other words, one of the branches of the determiningoperation can be deemed as an optional step. In addition, one or moresteps, blocks, functions or operations of the above described method 300may comprise optional steps, or can be combined, separated, and/orperformed in a different order from that described above, withoutdeparting from the example embodiments of the present disclosure.Furthermore, the use of the term “optional” in the above disclosure doesnot mean that any other steps not labeled as “optional” are notoptional. As such, any claims not reciting a step that is not labeled asoptional is not to be deemed as missing an essential step, but insteadshould be deemed as reciting an embodiment where such omitted steps aredeemed to be optional in that embodiment.

As such, the present disclosure provides at least one advancement in thetechnical field of social media. This advancement allows for virtualreality seating of live events via sharing of experiences using ondemand social networks. As a result, events may have in theory anunlimited number of tickets for sale by allowing users to share the liveevent experiences using on demand social networks in exchange for asubscription fee or a license with the service provider of the on demandsocial networks.

FIG. 4 depicts a high-level block diagram of a computing device suitablefor use in performing the functions described herein. As depicted inFIG. 4, the system 400 comprises one or more hardware processor elements402 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, or amulti-core processor), a memory 404 (e.g., random access memory (RAM)and/or read only memory (ROM)), a module 405 for sharing an experiencevia a social network on demand, and various input/output devices 406(e.g., storage devices, including but not limited to, a tape drive, afloppy drive, a hard disk drive or a compact disk drive, a receiver, atransmitter, a speaker, a display, a speech synthesizer, an output port,an input port and a user input device (such as a keyboard, a keypad, amouse, a microphone and the like)). Although only one processor elementis shown, it should be noted that the computing device may employ aplurality of processor elements. Furthermore, although only onecomputing device is shown in the figure, if the method 300, as discussedabove, is implemented in a distributed or parallel manner for aparticular illustrative example, i.e., the steps of the above method300, or the entirety of method 300 is implemented across multiple orparallel computing device, then the computing device of this figure isintended to represent each of those multiple computing devices.

Furthermore, one or more hardware processors can be utilized insupporting a virtualized or shared computing environment. Thevirtualized computing environment may support one or more virtualmachines representing computers, servers, or other computing devices. Insuch virtualized virtual machines, hardware components such as hardwareprocessors and computer-readable storage devices may be virtualized orlogically represented.

It should be noted that the present disclosure can be implemented insoftware and/or in a combination of software and hardware, e.g., usingapplication specific integrated circuits (ASIC), a programmable gatearray (PGA) including a Field PGA, or a state machine deployed on ahardware device, a computing device or any other hardware equivalents,e.g., computer readable instructions pertaining to the method discussedabove can be used to configure a hardware processor to perform thesteps, functions and/or operations of the above disclosed method 300. Inone embodiment, instructions and data for the present module or process405 for sharing an experience via a social network on demand (e.g., asoftware program comprising computer-executable instructions) can beloaded into memory 404 and executed by hardware processor element 402 toimplement the steps, functions or operations as discussed above inconnection with the illustrative method 300. Furthermore, when ahardware processor executes instructions to perform “operations”, thiscould include the hardware processor performing the operations directlyand/or facilitating, directing, or cooperating with another hardwaredevice or component (e.g., a co-processor and the like) to perform theoperations.

The processor executing the computer readable or software instructionsrelating to the above described method can be perceived as a programmedprocessor or a specialized processor. As such, the present module 405for sharing an experience via a social network on demand (includingassociated data structures) of the present disclosure can be stored on atangible or physical (broadly non-transitory) computer-readable storagedevice or medium, e.g., volatile memory, non-volatile memory, ROMmemory, RAM memory, magnetic or optical drive, device or diskette andthe like. Furthermore, a “tangible” computer-readable storage device ormedium comprises a physical device, a hardware device, or a device thatis discernible by the touch. More specifically, the computer-readablestorage device may comprise any physical devices that provide theability to store information such as data and/or instructions to beaccessed by a processor or a computing device such as a computer or anapplication server.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example only, and nota limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of a preferred embodimentshould not be limited by any of the above-described exemplaryembodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the followingclaims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a processor ofa service provider of a communication network that provides acommunication service, a request from a mobile endpoint device of a userto share a video of a live event at a commercial venue that the user iscapturing; establishing, by the processor, a first video session withthe mobile endpoint device of the user, the first video sessioncontaining the video of the live event at the commercial venue that theuser is capturing, wherein the establishing is performed in response todetermining that the mobile endpoint device has rights for sharing thevideo of the live event at the commercial venue; determining, by theprocessor, an endpoint device of at least one other user who is at thecommercial venue for receiving the video; sending, by the processor, anotification to the at least one other user that the video is available;receiving, by the processor, a request from the at least one other userto access the video; and establishing, by the processor, a second videosession with the endpoint device of the at least one other user toprovide the video.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:providing, by the processor, a plurality of different video sessionsfrom a plurality of different users to the at least one other user;receiving, by the processor, a request to become a social mediaconnection of one of the plurality of different users associated withone of the plurality of different video sessions that is selected by theat least one other user for viewing; receiving, by the processor, aconfirmation to accept the request to become the social media connectionfrom the one of the plurality of different users; and providing, by theprocessor, an access to the one of the plurality of different videosessions to the at least one other user.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein each one of the plurality of different video sessions iscaptured from a different seat at the live event.
 4. The method of claim1, further comprising: determining, by the processor, a type of theendpoint device being used by the at least one other user to establishthe second video session; and encoding, by the processor, the video tobe compatible with the type of the endpoint device being used by the atleast one other user.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the video of thefirst video session is captured by the mobile endpoint device of theuser.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the live event comprises a livesporting event or a live musical concert.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein the user and the at least one other user are paid subscribers ofthe service provider, for providing a service for providing on-demandsocial network experience sharing.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: establishing, by the processor, a full duplex communicationbetween the user and the at least one other user while the at least oneother user is viewing the video via the second video session.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the full duplex communication comprises atleast one of: a voice call, a video call or a messaging session.
 10. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, whenexecuted by a processor of a service provider of a communication networkthat provides a communication service, cause the processor to performoperations, the operations comprising: receiving a request from a mobileendpoint device of a user to share a video of a live event at acommercial venue that the user is capturing; establishing a first videosession with the mobile endpoint device of the user, the first videosession containing the video of the live event at the commercial venuethat the user is capturing, wherein the establishing is performed inresponse to determining that the mobile endpoint device has rights forsharing the video of the live event at the commercial venue; determiningan endpoint device of at least one other user who is at the commercialvenue for receiving the video; sending a notification to the at leastone other user that the video is available; receiving a request from theat least one other user to access the video; and establishing a secondvideo session with the endpoint device of the at least one other user toprovide the video.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 10, the operations further comprising: providing a plurality ofdifferent video sessions from a plurality of different users to the atleast one other user; receiving a request to become a social mediaconnection of one of the plurality of different users associated withone of the plurality of different video sessions that is selected by theat least one other user for viewing; receiving a confirmation to acceptthe request to become the social media connection from the one of theplurality of different users; and providing an access to the one of theplurality of different video sessions to the at least one other user.12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, whereineach one of the plurality of different video sessions is captured from adifferent seat at the live event.
 13. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 10, the operations further comprising:determining a type of the endpoint device being used by the at least oneother user to establish the second video session; and encoding the videoto be compatible with the type of the endpoint device being used by theat least one other user.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 10, wherein the video of the first video session is captured bythe mobile endpoint device of the user.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the live event comprises alive sporting event or a live musical concert.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the user and the at leastone other user are paid subscribers of the service provider, forproviding a service for providing on-demand social network experiencesharing.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10,the operations further comprising: establishing a full duplexcommunication between the user and the at least one other user while theat least one other user is viewing the video via the second videosession.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17,wherein the full duplex communication comprises at least one of: a voicecall, a video call or a messaging session.
 19. An apparatus comprising:a processor of a service provider of a communication network thatprovides a communication service; and a computer-readable storage devicestoring a plurality of instructions which, when executed by theprocessor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operationscomprising: receiving a request from a mobile endpoint device of a userto share a video of a live event at a commercial venue that the user iscapturing; establishing a first video session with the mobile endpointdevice of the user, the first video session containing the video of thelive event at the commercial venue that the user is capturing, whereinthe establishing is performed in response to determining that the mobileendpoint device has rights for sharing the video of the live event atthe commercial venue; determining an endpoint device of at least oneother user who is at the commercial venue for receiving the video;sending a notification to the at least one other user that the video isavailable; receiving a request from the at least one other user toaccess the video; and establishing a second video session with theendpoint device of the at least one other user to provide the video. 20.The apparatus of claim 19, the operations further comprising: providinga plurality of different video sessions from a plurality of differentusers to the at least one other user; receiving a request to become asocial media connection of one of the plurality of different usersassociated with one of the plurality of different video sessions that isselected by the at least one other user for viewing; receiving aconfirmation to accept the request to become the social media connectionfrom the one of the plurality of different users; and providing anaccess to the one of the plurality of different video sessions to the atleast one other user.